Can't keep your wheels balanced?
#1
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Can't keep your wheels balanced?
If you've had your wheels balanced and begin feeling vibrations shortly thereafter, check to see if the wheels are slipping in the tires, especially with chrome wheels.
I had my stock chrome 17's rebalanced recently and all 4 were out, and that's only after about 1000mi of driving. Turns out they were slipping on the wheels, and therefore, losing the balance that was done at time of installation. We marked them and went for a quick test drive. The left rear moved about 5" by the time we got back. Even the fronts moved a little. No question about it. The technicians were shocked.
Not to take credit for this discovery, as I read about it here on another post, but I just wanted to support it and offer it as a suggestion to others who may be frustrated with vibrations like myself.
So if you are having what seems to be an incurable vibration, my advice is to have them all balanced again, and mark the location of the valve stem on the tire, with a white crayon or something that won't wash off easily. Then, go out and give your car a few hot laps of accelerating and stopping and see what happens. I'd suggest you monitor them for a few days. If they move, you know what your problem is (or one of them, anyway). If you don't want the little marks on the tires, you can write down the location of the stem for each tire. For example, Left Rear- between the O and T in "Potenza", but the mark is more convincing to the techs.
We broke down all 4 of my wheels and cleaned out the paste "bead lube" that was used during installation (I think this was the problem) with thinner, and applied some black bead sealant and reinstalled. I took it out again, but it still moved a few inches. I probably should have waited a little longer for it to cure, but the owner told me to have at it. It doesn't look as though it's still moving, but I'm keeping my eye on it.
I had my stock chrome 17's rebalanced recently and all 4 were out, and that's only after about 1000mi of driving. Turns out they were slipping on the wheels, and therefore, losing the balance that was done at time of installation. We marked them and went for a quick test drive. The left rear moved about 5" by the time we got back. Even the fronts moved a little. No question about it. The technicians were shocked.
Not to take credit for this discovery, as I read about it here on another post, but I just wanted to support it and offer it as a suggestion to others who may be frustrated with vibrations like myself.
So if you are having what seems to be an incurable vibration, my advice is to have them all balanced again, and mark the location of the valve stem on the tire, with a white crayon or something that won't wash off easily. Then, go out and give your car a few hot laps of accelerating and stopping and see what happens. I'd suggest you monitor them for a few days. If they move, you know what your problem is (or one of them, anyway). If you don't want the little marks on the tires, you can write down the location of the stem for each tire. For example, Left Rear- between the O and T in "Potenza", but the mark is more convincing to the techs.
We broke down all 4 of my wheels and cleaned out the paste "bead lube" that was used during installation (I think this was the problem) with thinner, and applied some black bead sealant and reinstalled. I took it out again, but it still moved a few inches. I probably should have waited a little longer for it to cure, but the owner told me to have at it. It doesn't look as though it's still moving, but I'm keeping my eye on it.
Last edited by cyclemax; 05-12-02 at 12:27 PM.
#3
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Wheres the best place to get a proper balancing? Would you say a Lexus dealer or a performance shop will have the best equipment? Isnt ther a special machine that works better called like the Hunter machine or is that for allignments.
#4
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user not machine
Tire balancing is more user than machine.
Some manufacturers are Hunter, John Bean, Accurturn, Coats (cheap), plus many others.
Many are the same unit sold under different names.
Obviously a spin balancer is going to be better than a bubble balancer which is a bit rare nowadays.
Some manufacturers are Hunter, John Bean, Accurturn, Coats (cheap), plus many others.
Many are the same unit sold under different names.
Obviously a spin balancer is going to be better than a bubble balancer which is a bit rare nowadays.
#5
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Originally posted by BadBtsz4u
Wheres the best place to get a proper balancing? Would you say a Lexus dealer or a performance shop will have the best equipment? Isnt ther a special machine that works better called like the Hunter machine or is that for allignments.
Wheres the best place to get a proper balancing? Would you say a Lexus dealer or a performance shop will have the best equipment? Isnt ther a special machine that works better called like the Hunter machine or is that for allignments.
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